Two days later, Lu Jingzhi’s convoy arrived at the small hospital shelter where Jiang Huan was resting. Yao Wuque rushed into the ward anxiously but was met with a scene of Xu Ye, Zhong Yin, and Zhang Xiaowen laughing and chatting. Two of them were sitting, while the other was lying down.
“Xiaowen!” Yao Wuque hurriedly approached the bedside and exclaimed, “Are you okay? What happened to your leg?!”
“Just a little limp.” Surprisingly, Zhang Xiaowen replied with a smile. The young girl’s attitude was remarkably optimistic. “Fortunately, the treatment was timely, and our team is well-funded enough to afford good medicine. That’s why it didn’t reach the amputation stage. However, I might not be able to go on missions with you guys in the future.”
Yao Wuque’s face instantly drooped, his eyebrows furrowed, and he appeared all gloomy. “How could this happen…” he muttered.
Seeing his genuine concern for her, Zhang Xiaowen felt both moved and comforted. She quickly smiled and said, “Yao Wuque, guess how we escaped this time? I bet it would scare you if I told you!”
Zhong Yin also stepped forward, pretending to be serious, and said, “Xiaowen, you can’t tell him. Yao Wuque has a loose tongue; he’ll definitely can’t resist spilling the beans.”
“Right, right,” Zhang Xiaowen quickly made a shushing gesture. Yao Wuque raised his eyebrows in confusion and turned to look at Xu Ye, who was also playing it mysterious, and then glanced at Lu Jingzhi, who was standing not far behind him.
Lu Jingzhi, who had not been informed of how they escaped, turned to ask Jiang Huan, who was sitting by the wall, “Yeah, Jiang Huan, you even made an abdication edict to pass the throne to the Crown Prince. I’ve already put on the reserved yellow robe and was waiting to ascend the throne. How come it’s been restored again? You made me happy for nothing.”
Jiang Huan raised his eyes to look at him and slowly said, “It’s the mutants.”
“…” Lu Jingzhi’s smile instantly vanished, and he subconsciously looked around the room, then saw that Jiang Huan was completely unperturbed by their presence. He repeated in shock, “Mutants?”
In his eyes, various emotions flickered, eventually turning into a faint melancholy. The mutants’ decision to save people or not depended on a single thought, and this time they chose to help the Shanhai Unit, which spoke volumes about whose face they were considering.
“Brother Shen really… always comes to your rescue at the most critical moments. Back then and now,” he said with a tinge of admiration.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Huan smiled gently, his eyes filled with affection and tenderness. He lowered his gaze and softly responded, “Yes.”
Lan Jingzhi: “…”
“Just a moment,” Lan Jingzhi reached out and supported himself against the wall, showing his foresight. “Did you just smile? Am I seeing things? I really saw you smile! How many years has it been since you last smiled?”
“You’ve seen it wrong.”
“…”
While Lan Jingzhi was still doubting life, on the other side, Zhang Xiaowen began to vividly describe, “…I saw Lieutenant Xu bravely take a step forward, his eyes tightly closed, waiting for the zombie to end his life. But just at that moment!”
Zhong Yin clapped on Yao Wuque’s back, acting as a gong, and Yao Wuque got angry, “Don’t touch me! And then, and then?”
“Then all those groups of green-faced zombies suddenly froze. Their faces were filled with fear and awe as they trembled and avoided both sides.”
“…Do zombies have expressions?”
“Artistic embellishment, you don’t need to interrupt. The zombies were shocked and afraid as they all avoided, and both Zhong Yin and I were prepared to sacrifice ourselves. At that moment, we couldn’t help but look at each other, curious about what was happening. However, just as the zombies retreated and cleared the way, at the end of that path, there appeared a man who was 1.8 meters tall, handsome and elegant, with broad shoulders and long legs. He looked like a god descending to the mortal world. He had a golden halo of sunlight behind him, and his black short hair was gently caressed by the playful breeze.”
“Xiaowen, you have to make it sound a bit more realistic. What looking like ‘a god descending to the mortal world,’ he wasn’t wearing a face mask or helmet, right?”
“Huh, he didn’t wear it.”
Yao Wuque: “…”
Zhong Yin and Xu Ye immediately vouched for Zhang Xiaowen, “Yes, he really didn’t wear it.”
“Huh?” Yao Wuque also began to doubt life, and Zhang Xiaowen continued with great enthusiasm, “Behind the handsome guy in the windbreaker, there were also two men and a woman. Not to mention the two equally handsome men, the woman was also stunningly beautiful and sweet-voiced, with a well-endowed figure and long legs. Anyone who sees her would be unforgettable.”
“Okay, you continue to make up the story.”
“The group of people walked confidently towards us, and the man leading them headed straight for our captain. After stopping, he playfully lifted the corner of his mouth and elegantly extended his right hand to the captain, with a hint of mischief and allure in his eyes…”
“Three parts indifference, two parts coldness, two parts allure—subtract ten by three, then by two, and by two again, and there are still three parts of deep affectionate tenderness?”
“That’s right.”
“That’s right, my foot!!”
“Captain, as if enchanted, reached out his blood-stained hand and gently placed it in the man’s palm. Suddenly, he felt weak and leaned on the man’s shoulder, panting heavily…”
“Wait, is this our captain? His character has completely collapsed!”
“Art originates from life and transcends life, you know? I told you not to interrupt; it’s about to be the most exciting part of the whole drama.”
“Cough.” Xu Ye, feeling awkward, averted his gaze and refrained from commenting on Zhang Xiaowen’s artistic embellishments.
“The captain nestled in the man’s arms, struggled to open his eyes, and looked at the gingko leaf brooch pinned to his chest, so beautiful, so dazzling…”
After listening to Zhang Xiaowen’s story, Lu Jingzhi’s expression changed slightly, and he couldn’t help murmuring, “Gingko leaf?”
“Struggling to catch his breath, the captain asked, ‘Who are you? Why did you save us?’ The man just chuckled, his voice deep and sexy, and said, ‘I’m Shen Shanwu, a mutant. Congratulations, Captain, you have successfully attracted my attention!'”
Zhong Yin clapped expressionlessly, Xu Ye felt helpless, and Zhang Xiaowen, despite her laughter, couldn’t shake off the discomfort in her heart. With her disability, she tried to stay cheerful, and everyone in the team gladly joined in the fun to keep her spirits up. Even discussions about the mutants and Shen Shanwu were initiated by the Captain himself.
They had escaped from tens of thousands of large-scale zombie waves, and no amount of unity and strong will of the team could explain that. Since they couldn’t hide the existence of mutants, they might as well be upfront about it from the beginning. After all, the people in Xincheng and the other two members of the Shanhai Unit had already seen it. Although they swore an oath as soon as they arrived at the hospital to never mention today’s events, no one expected them to keep that secret forever.
Jiang Huan remained indifferent to the situation. If his friendship with the mutants were to be exposed and draw the attention of those with ill intentions, causing a negative impact on Shanhai and even the coastal base, he would immediately cut ties with both the team and Marshal Jiang and isolate himself in the lightly-radiated uninhabited area.
Xu Ye would never allow such a thing to happen. He first secretly threatened the three individuals outside the team, saying that it was fine to mention that the mutants saved them, but if they uttered a single word about Jiang Huan’s relationship with the mutants, he, Xu Ye, would be the first one to take their lives!
Then, Xu Ye, being a matchmaker, went to subtly hint to Zhong Yin, saying that it seemed like the captain had a close relationship with that mutant named Shen Shanwu. She asked if her sister, Zhong Yun, would become jealous and do something harmful to the captain out of love.
Zhong Yin was a die-hard fan of Jiang Huan, completely infatuated with him to the point of being willing to sacrifice anything for him. She wasn’t someone who was sensitive or perceptive about others’ intentions. Unable to understand her sister’s thoughts, after much consideration, she secretly approached Zhong Yun to have a heart-to-heart talk that night.
Zhong Yun, who was more sensitive than her sister, understood the purpose of Zhong Yin’s visit without waiting for her to speak. She became angry and retorted, “Do you have so little trust in your sister’s character? Do you think she’s the kind of person who would destroy things if she couldn’t have them?”
Feeling ashamed, Zhong Yin quickly apologized, explaining that she hadn’t even noticed the captain’s feelings towards the mutant. She suggested that maybe the lieutenant misunderstood the situation.
“How could it be a misunderstanding…” Zhong Yun sighed, “I have liked Captain Jiang for so long; I have watched him from afar for countless years. For Jiang Huan, that mutant is the most special; it’s so obvious.”
“Now my sister can’t help but worry about Jiang Huan… You know, liking a mutant and being with a mutant, how many obstacles and hardships must they go through?”
…
“Fuck!” With a frightened curse from Lu Jingzhi, everyone’s attention turned to him. Lu Jingzhi didn’t care about that and turned to ask Jiang Huan, “How did they know Brother Shen’s name?! Jiang Huan, why did you tell them all these things?”
Jiang Huan could no longer hide the amusement in his eyes and said, “I didn’t tell them, it was Shen Shanwu who told them himself.”
“What do you mean?” After asking, Lu Jingzhi was visibly stunned for a few seconds. Then, he couldn’t control himself, opened his mouth wide, his eyes shining brightly, and exclaimed in excitement, “Brother Shen is alive?!” He couldn’t contain his joy and started waving his fists and jumping around.
Jiang Han nodded, and he saw Lu Jingzhi so excited that he couldn’t control his limbs, repeatedly saying, “I have to tell Gong Wei, I have to tell Gong Wei…”
Yao Wuque had never seen Lu Jingzhi so excited before, and it was also the first time he had seen the Captain smile. He stood there in disbelief, and Zhong Yin lifted his chin with her hand, saying, “He’s coming back to life. What we see now is nothing compared to how radiant the Captain’s smile was a couple of days ago.”
“Captain can smile?” Yao Wuque rubbed his eyes. “Are you sure this person is our Captain and not a shapeshifting mutant pretending to be him?”
“Well, mutants aren’t shapeshifters. How could they pretend to be someone else? It seems the ‘Brother Shen’ that Lieutenant Lu mentioned before is indeed the mutant who saved us this time.” Zhong Yin explained.
“Did the mutants really save you?” Yao Wuque continued to be amazed, his mouth wide open since entering the room. Zhong Yin replied helplessly, “Of course! Otherwise, how could we have escaped? Over the past two days, Sister Xiaowen and I have speculated that this Shen Shanwu might have been bitten by zombies while saving our captain. The captain thought he died because of him, so he became gloomy and rarely smiled. Adopting Jiang Tong was also because he looks very similar to Shen Shanwu. But it turned out that Shen Shanwu was lucky and didn’t die; instead, he became a mutant and came back to life.”
“Mutants can also save people? Weren’t they zombies? Eating brains, skinning, and torturing people?”
“That’s all misinformation, made up to deceive people.”
“Tell me in detail, so I can go back and tell Jiang Tong!”
…
Seated in the magnificent and opulent grand hall, the image of Shen Shanwu, as described by the various members of the Shanhai Unit, now sat there, absent-mindedly playing with the ring. He wore the ring that Jiang Huan had given him on his right ring finger, not because of any significant meaning but simply because it happened to fit perfectly on that finger.
At this meeting, all nine domestic mutants had gathered, including the rarely seen “Tibetan” mutant. In recent years, he had nothing else to do, so he spent his time in a small cabin self-studying Chinese. Though he still spoke with some hesitation, he could at least communicate to some extent.
After learning that Top Student had already reconciled with his kid, Manager let out a sigh of relief and enthusiastically suggested that they all play cards and mahjong after the meeting.
The Prophet didn’t have much to discuss, simply providing a brief update on the progress of finding new mutants. He then advised everyone to stay near the Coastal Base for the next one or two months, not to wander aimlessly around the world and waste the Wolf Dog’s nails.
After the meeting, the Prophet approached Shen Shanwu alone, smiling warmly as he congratulated him on reconciling with Jiang Huan. Shen Shanwu felt awkward and fidgeted with the ring on his finger, responding with a dry “thank you.”
“Rumor has it that Jiang Huan has a stronger desire for intimacy with you?”
Shen Shanwu smirked, “Prophet, you have a way with words.”
“Oh? How about a less refined version: I heard that Jiang Huan wants to sleep with you?”
“…”
The Prophet was amused by Shen Shanwu’s twitching expression and cleared his throat to regain his composure. “Top Student, you are the closest among us mutants to humans. Even Milk Tea, who lives with humans, does not spend every moment with them. You are very likely to develop a very intimate relationship with a human, so I must talk to you about matters concerning your superpower…”
“Rest assured,” Shen Shanwu said, “No matter what my future relationship with Jiang Huan is, I won’t disclose any information about my superpower to him.”
“Oh? Then how do you maintain the balance between Jiang Tong and Shen Shanwu?”
“…There will always be a way,” Shen Shanwu said with a smile.
The Prophet chuckled, “Top Student, in fact, I wanted to say…”
“Secrets can’t stay secret forever. As long as they exist and someone knows about them, there will come a day when they won’t be a secret anymore. I hope you can keep the secret of your abilities, but if someday you must or are forced to reveal this secret, don’t burden yourself too much,” the Prophet said.
“Abilities and relationships with humans are things that we, as mutants, will have to face one day. I have a premonition that this new mutant will also be someone with an inseparable bond with humans.”
*
Three days later, Jiang Huan and the others returned to the Coastal Base.
During this mission, they lost four teammates but only retrieved two memorial plaques. Lu Jingzhi took them to the public cemetery of the Coastal Base and tied them to the towering tree that belonged to the Shanhai Unit. The gentle breeze brushed against the memorial plaques, causing them to gently collide, creating a melodious sound as if they were greeting each other.
Yao Wuque couldn’t wait to drag Shen Shanwu away from his textbooks and homework, excitedly narrating the adventures of the Shanhai Unit members.
As Yao Wuque narrated the entrance of the mutants, he depicted “Shen Shanwu” as an otherworldly handsome man, capable of commanding the heavens and earth with a single glance and toppling the mountains and seas with a casual gesture. The mutants stood on perilous buildings, and all the zombies prostrated themselves before them. The leader, “Shen Shanwu,” exuded an aura of an emperor. With a simple snap of his fingers, the zombies surrounding the members of the Shanhai Unit turned into ashes.
Shen Shanwu: “…” Stop making things up, stop making things up. If you continue, even without any special abilities, the mutants will end up with a bunch of weird and strange powers.
Jiang Huan patiently checked the homework for Shen Shanwu. When he turned over a page in the textbook, he suddenly saw a pretty and delicate piece of candy wrapper, and on the front, there was neatly written handwriting typical of a young girl:
“Jiang Tong, you’re really impressive. You’re handsome, cool, and excellent in your studies. I really like you a lot — from a girl who silently admires you.”
After the character “Tong,” there was a cute peach heart symbol, carefully colored in with a red pen.
Jiang Han picked it up and read it once, then looked at Shen Shanwu. Shen Shanwu was completely unaware of the existence of this candy wrapper and said, “I’m not sure how that got there. Someone must have sneaked it in.”
“Sure, Jiang Tong. You’ve only been to school for a few days and already have a little girl secretly in love with you.” Xu Ye teased, putting his arm around Shen Shanwu’s shoulder. Shen Shanwu immediately pushed him away, saying, “Get lost, get lost.”
“If she likes you, you can give it a try,” surprisingly, Jiang Huan was very open-minded and wanted to match Jiang Tong with this unknown little girl. On the other hand, Lu Jingzhi was seriously objecting from the side, “No way, Jiang Tong is still too young. His godfather absolutely won’t allow him to date so early.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Jiang Han put the candy wrapper back in its place, “Feelings can’t be controlled. If he wants to be in love, let him.”
“…” Shen Shanwu couldn’t help but murmur quietly, “You’ll regret it.”
His voice was very soft, and no one heard it. Instead, it was Shen Shanwu himself who blushed after saying it. Everyone else thought he was shy because of the candy wrapper and started teasing him, with one taunt following another.
Liu Jingzhi turned away with a toothache, “Alright, alright, I surrender to you two. Go ahead and fall in love; I’m going to do the same. Let’s not eat at the cafeteria for dinner.”
“Okay,” Jiang Huan nodded. After dinner, he went to the personnel department to get some new shower gel and then rummaged through his office, finally finding a bottle of aged perfume.
Shen Shanwu: “…” This is too much, really too much.
Feeling immense pressure, Shen Shanwu locked himself in his room. From under the bed, he pulled out several sets of stylish men’s clothing that Milk Tea had thoughtfully provided. Just as he was about to pick one to change into, Wu Fengge knocked on the door from outside and asked if he wanted some milk.
Shen Shanwu quickly stuffed the clothes back into the hiding spot and opened the door to receive the hot milk from Wu Fengge.
As he bid farewell to Wu Fengge, before he could even close the door, Yao Wuque came over casually, asking if Jiang Tong wanted to play cards together.
“No, I’m very tired. I’ll go to sleep,” Jiang Tong replied.
“How can you go to bed so early? We haven’t seen each other in five or six days, and you don’t miss your Brother Wuque?”
“Let’s talk about it tomorrow, bye.”
After closing the door, within ten seconds, someone knocked again, and it was Yao Wuque. He furrowed his brows and said, “Jiang Tong, I think there’s something fishy about you. Going to bed in such a hurry and, moreover, locking the door… Are you writing a reply to that little girl?”
Shen Shanwu: “…”
“Don’t be shy. Do you need Brother Wuque to help you with some advice? I’m quite skilled in writing love letters, you know.”
Shen Shanwu closed the door firmly and decisively, making sure to lock it this time, showing no mercy.
Half an hour later, Shen Shanwu listened carefully to the sounds in the hallway outside his room. Once he identified the right moment, he stealthily moved from Jiang Tong’s room to the tea room across the hallway. He opened the window, climbed out silently, and then carefully closed it again.
In the ink-black night, Shen Shanwu’s figure moved like an agile dragon, effortlessly leaping several floors in the span of a breath. He opened the specially unlocked window and gracefully jumped inside.
Jiang Han, sitting on the bed lost in thought, was suddenly taken aback. His eyes drifted gently towards Shen Shanwu’s hand. When he saw the ring properly adorning his finger, his gaze softened as if it could melt into water.
The author has something to say:
Prophet (smile)
Shen Shanwu: …
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